We are starting to do some research into buying/building a house.
At the moment the Adelaide housing market doesn't look good for anyone with a single income, because there's been a housing boom in the last year and a half or so. And the "experts" are predicting prices will continue to go up, although not as sharply as they did in the last year. And apparently a crash is expected in the next 6 to 24 months, so basically we're hoping that happens rather soon. We have talked to a mortgage-finding service and know what our budget is, so we're keeping an eye out for anything in that range. But of course nothing much is in that range, except houses in dumpy suburbs like Elizabeth and Davoren Park. Or little towns an hour from Darrin's work.
I've done some number crunching and we can't really do anything till about a year from now, or a bit longer. But maybe that'll allow enough time for the prices to come down enough so that we can get something nice. If that doesn't happen, or doesn't happen quickly enough, building may be cheaper. I kinda like the idea; Darrin doesn't. Apparently building in a new development usually means rules on what you can & can't have in your garden (yard), and it also means that sure, you can plan the size of the house, but you're on a tiny block of land. So unless you dig a basement (not common here at all, and probably expensive) or put on a second story (very unpopular because you can see into your neighbours' yards, and they don't like that), you're left with a little strip of land around each side of the house, which isn't really enough for anything but a clothesline. If we buy an existing house, it'll possibly be on a more useful block of land (a big plus from my point of view, having grown up on 7 acres out in the country).
Anyway. Like I said, we can't actually DO anything for another year, but we're keeping our eyes and ears open. And it's fun just looking at houses online & figuring out what I might do with them, and if the kitchen's big enough, and hey, there's already a shed for the servers, and that wallpaper will HAVE to go....
At the moment the Adelaide housing market doesn't look good for anyone with a single income, because there's been a housing boom in the last year and a half or so. And the "experts" are predicting prices will continue to go up, although not as sharply as they did in the last year. And apparently a crash is expected in the next 6 to 24 months, so basically we're hoping that happens rather soon. We have talked to a mortgage-finding service and know what our budget is, so we're keeping an eye out for anything in that range. But of course nothing much is in that range, except houses in dumpy suburbs like Elizabeth and Davoren Park. Or little towns an hour from Darrin's work.
I've done some number crunching and we can't really do anything till about a year from now, or a bit longer. But maybe that'll allow enough time for the prices to come down enough so that we can get something nice. If that doesn't happen, or doesn't happen quickly enough, building may be cheaper. I kinda like the idea; Darrin doesn't. Apparently building in a new development usually means rules on what you can & can't have in your garden (yard), and it also means that sure, you can plan the size of the house, but you're on a tiny block of land. So unless you dig a basement (not common here at all, and probably expensive) or put on a second story (very unpopular because you can see into your neighbours' yards, and they don't like that), you're left with a little strip of land around each side of the house, which isn't really enough for anything but a clothesline. If we buy an existing house, it'll possibly be on a more useful block of land (a big plus from my point of view, having grown up on 7 acres out in the country).
Anyway. Like I said, we can't actually DO anything for another year, but we're keeping our eyes and ears open. And it's fun just looking at houses online & figuring out what I might do with them, and if the kitchen's big enough, and hey, there's already a shed for the servers, and that wallpaper will HAVE to go....
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